H&M Designer Collaboration 2019
- Darren De Hahn
- May 24, 2019
- 2 min read
Each year H&M has one very much anticipated designer collaboration with a notable fashion house providing us on the other end of the financial spectrum with the opportunity to own a coveted piece of fashion history.
In other words it's a designer's way of saying "you're not our target market but here's a taste to keep you satisfied."
A few months back a little birdie dropped a subtle hint alluding to how this year's designer collaboration would be their biggest and best to date. Given the huge influence of major brands today and the noise they're creating within the fashion industry I expected nothing less than Demna for Balenciaga, Kim Jones for Dior, maybe even Hedi Slimane for Celine.
You can imagine my surprise when they announced that this years talk of the town collaboration would be with none other than... Giambattista Valli?
Giambattista is the master of tulle and you may recognize his work due to their undeniable presence on the red carpet of film festivals and other major star studded events.
Don't get me wrong I'm as big of a fan as the next person although this time even I'd have to admit, I did not see this coming.
It caught the fashion community off guard.
Primarily due to the fact that the typical H&M client is more casual/street-wear focused while Giambattista is essentially a Paris based haute couture house. Could this mean couture would finally be labeled, mainstream? That's a bit dramatic but I'm not sure how bourgeoisie societies of upper class women spending thousands of pounds getting dressed for an evening out would react to the news. I can picture them choking on the piping hot tea from their solid gold china cups right now.
Previous designer collaborations included Karl Lagerfeld, Versace, Balmain and Moschino. Maison Martin Margiela probably being H&M's most fashion forward and boundary breaking move to date. Transformative patterns, intricate layering and a complete disregard for normalities made for some statement pieces turned collectors items.
This being the first time H&M ventures into true Parisian couture whilst combining two otherwise vastly different worlds should make for another unusual yet interesting outcome.
In keeping with the theme of all things unexpected, a few designs are set to release this coming Saturday 25 May at select retailers around the world. These include a line of simple yet chic party dresses and some subtle menswear tailoring. A first for this predominantly womenswear focused fashion house. We're talking gender stereo-typically of course because at the end of the day we're allowed to wear whatever makes us comfortable.
That being said the designer himself provided some insight into his thought process while designing the collection and it involved a lot of borrowing, for example, taking that which is stereo-typically mens and incorporating it into womens pieces and vice-versa.
The entirety of the collection titled "Project Love" will be released on 7 November as per collaboration standard while right now we have a sneak peek to keep us satisfied.
Browse through the introductory lookbook below.
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